As Dawn Goes Down To Day
by Inky Iris
Summary: "With a quick twist, the other end of the staff was facing Pitch Black, offered with no resistance." Jack finds himself powerless, injured, and alone.


I just saw **Rise of the Guardians** about an hour and a half ago and fell in love with it. I've never read any RotG fanfiction and I probably won't until I get all of my fanfiction ideas (and I have a lot) written down. I have a whole headcanon about Jack and the way he and the Guardians work and I don't want to mix anything in there. So expect to see more from me (when I'm not working on 'Into the Dark', that is). I might even expand on this. Now, I need to get ready to go to the theatre and see it again in twenty-five minutes XD Ah, I love cheap theatres.

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It wasn't a difficult decision to make – either he handed over his staff, or Pitch Black would destroy Baby Tooth. Jack knew immediately what his choice would be. His staff was the only source of his power and his only link to his beginning. It might even be something he owned before he was Jack Frost. Without the staff, he couldn't fly, he couldn't fight, he was powerless, as far as he could tell. He had never needed to go without it before. Baby Tooth shook her head frantically at him, motioning for him to not give up his staff. He kept up his stance, the end of the rod pointing squarely at Pitch Black. Neither of them moved. Then, Jack's shoulders dropped, followed by his arms. With a quick twist, the other end was facing Pitch Black, offered with no resistance and Jack's head was turned away. He couldn't watch this. The rod was swiftly yanked out of Jack's hand. Turning, he eyed it, unsure of what would happen, waiting it to darken and become a tool of shadow and evil. When nothing of the kind occurred, his eyes darted back to the fairy in Pitch's hand.

"Now let her go." His voice was firm. He no longer had any power to back his demand, but he would do anything he could to secure Baby Tooth's release.

His eyes widened and he drew back in surprise as Pitch replied. "I don't think I will." Baby Tooth squeaked at this and buried her beak into Pitch's skin. The creature howled and, drawing back his arm, hurled the fairy away. Jack could only watch helplessly, eyes narrowed, as she was flung so far that he couldn't see her. Angrier than ever, he turned back to Pitch to see him holding Jack's staff in both hands. He broke the staff in two pieces and Jack doubled over in pain. He felt like something was shattering inside him, something sharp that dug into every corner of his being as the shards flew. He felt so… vulnerable. The wind blew against his skin, the cold biting into him as he could never remember it doing before. He couldn't remember ever feeling this susceptible and weak against these temperatures, his own element. He thought Pitch might be saying something or doing something, but all he could think about was how jagged the emptiness inside him was.

Suddenly, Jack felt cold, frightening darkness slam into him. It felt as if it was picking at every fiber of his being, pulling at the frayed ends of his self-confidence and hope, wearing them away until there were holes for his fear to shine through. It was fast, and then he smashed into something cold and hard. It stopped his flight and the darkness dissipated. With nothing to hold him up and his head feeling as though it was being smothered in cotton, he fell forward limply. His head _hurt_ and his nausea wasn't helped by his crashing painfully against ledges of ice on his way down. He hadn't felt this powerless in a long time. He didn't know if there ever was a time he had felt as weak as he did now. He barely registered hitting the ice and not falling again. His arms flopped limply down and he slumped. His back was at a different angle then his legs and Jack slowly pried his eyes open to find he was sitting upright. Twin thunks signaled the pieces of his staff landing near him. They were too far for him to reach.

Everything hurt. As his eyes moved away from the staff, they landed on a spec of colour on the white ground. With effort, Jack pushed off of the wall he was leaning against and slumped to the ground within arm's reach of the fairy. He grabbed his torso, grunting in pain as his ribs felt like they crunched. That wasn't good. Jack couldn't remember ever being hurt before. That wasn't important right now, though. He cradled Baby Tooth in his hands, sighing in relief as she stirred. She cringed away from his cold hands and pain that wasn't from the fall ripped through him. No one saw him, and he couldn't even help those that could. He apologized, regret heavy in his heart, and pulled back slightly in surprise as Baby Tooth zipped into the jacket of his hoodie. He couldn't keep her warm, but maybe his pocket would be able to help. He could feel her body heat through the material and he positioned himself gingerly upright again. He was slowly able to breathe again, though he sat hunched and could only take shallow breaths. His whole ribcage hurt, starting from the back and spreading all the way to below his collarbone on the right side. Gingerly, he prodded the area, and quickly resolved not to repeat the action. He leaned his head back. The ice on the wall seeped through his hoodie and seemed to penetrate to his bones. This was bad. He had never been injured or cold before. Just what had happened to him when Pitch Black had broken his staff?

Baby Tooth was shifting around in his pocket, probably trying to get warm. He didn't mind, though, as she stepped on his stomach, he wished she could be a little gentler. She seemed to be succeeding in trying to warm herself up, as Jack felt a sudden warmth increasing from his pocket. It felt really good. A flash of golden light startled him and Baby Tooth brought out the capsule with his memories. It was glowing, and so warm. He had come to this place to get rid of it, but now everything had changed. He no longer had his power. The Guardians were doomed. If he was going to be stuck here forever, maybe even die, as he didn't know if he could survive here without his staff and power, he might as well know who he had been.

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Bruised ribs are a pain. They are super uncomfortable and suck. Hope it was alright! Let me know what you liked and didn't like =]


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